diff --git a/.Rbuildignore b/.Rbuildignore
index 52c2ebf..0771a60 100644
--- a/.Rbuildignore
+++ b/.Rbuildignore
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ misc/
 docker/
 spca_randtest.modified.
 cran-comments.md
+^CRAN-RELEASE$
diff --git a/CRAN-RELEASE b/CRAN-RELEASE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d92d85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CRAN-RELEASE
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+This package was submitted to CRAN on 2020-01-19.
+Once it is accepted, delete this file and tag the release (commit 1cef3f90f4).